A Collection of Service Essays

Book excerpt: This book is a collection of papers written by the author on the subject of service. They all have been peer reviewed and written for a diverse variety of reasons. Some papers have been modified to suit a general audience, and others have simply been improved. There are some formatting differences due to the basic requirements of the various venues. The subject matter can be viewed as three separate sections: introductory, foundational, and applicative. The introductory papers are quite simple and give a gentle introduction to what the discipline of service is all about. The foundational papers provide a basis for the study of the concepts and methods of the service discipline. The applicative papers are general in nature so as to provide insight to what does and can go on in the world of service. Papers 1 and 2 fall into the first category. Papers 3, 4, and 5 are in the second category, and the remainder are in the third group. The table of contents is unique in that the entries give an abstract to the respective paper. This is an aid to a selection and gives a summary of the subject matter. The papers were assembled to support two recent books on the subject of service.